Uncoupling device for railway cars



G A. WOODMAN. UNCOUPLING DEVICE FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION HLED DEC-30, I918.

Patented June 27, 1922.

GEORGE A. WOODMAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES A. CARSCADIN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

UN COUPLING DEVICE FOR RAILWAY CARS.

Application filed December 30, 1918.

usual uncoupling conditions without danger of injury'to the trainman.

A further object of the invention is to constantly maintain the handle or grip end i of the device in convenient position for operation at a fixed distance from the car end so that the trainmans hand will never be squeezed between the handle and the end of the car or any of the attachments thereon.

My invention is also designed in connection with the foregoing objects to comply with the safety appliance laws of the United States Government to adapt it for universal application on all old as well as new railway cars on which this particular type of uncoupling device may be employed.

In the accompanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment of the invention Fig. 1 is a top plan view showing my invention applied to the end of a railway car, the latter being partly in section;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation;

Figs. 3 and 1 are sectional views-on the lines 33 and 44 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings the invention comprises an uncoupling lever 5 preferably made of a flat bar bent between its ends so that one end portion 6 may engage the coupling pin 7 while the other end portion 8 forms the handle or grip end adjacent the end sill 9 of the car.

In actual service the coupler head 10 plays back and forth in the draft gear of the car and consequently provision must be made to allow the lever 5 to play with the coupler head and always clear the brake mast 11. For this purpose I support the lever between its ends on a sliding fulcrum which comprises a bolt 12 3) mounted to slide in the end sill 9 and a supporting bracket 13 fastened thereon. This bolt is provided on its inner end with a washer and nut 14 and at its outer end with a rectangular eye Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 27, 1922.

Serial No. 268,888.

15 in which the lever 5 is pivotally secured by the bolt 16. lVith this construction the fulcrum for the uncoupling lever and that part of said lever which engages the coupling pin is free to move with the coupler head without injury to any of the parts and so that the lever may be operated in any position of the head. I prefer to bevel the inner faces of the side walls of' the eye 15 to better allow for the play of the lever with the coupler head.

The handle portion 8 of the lever is' arranged to operate in a keeper 17 which is preferably open at 18 and supported on an arm 17 which is fastened to the end sill. The keeper and arm are preferably made in the form of an integral bracket casting of sufiicient size to space the handle 8 a suffi cient distance from the end of the car and the push pole pocket casting 19 and the grab iron 20 to clear the same at all times and to operate in' accordance with the safety appliance laws of the United States Government. I also prefer to bevelthe inside faces of the side walls of the keeper 17 similar to those of the e'ye"15', as shown in Fig. 1 to facilitate the lateral movement of the lever. Y

In practice the handle portion of the lever is always guided in the keeper 17, the lower part of which constitutes a stop for limiting the downward movement of the lever. I prefer to make the keeper open at one side to facilitate the insertion or removal of the lever, but this is not essential since the lever may be inserted or removed endwise. It is important that there shall be sufficient clearance between the endsill and the usual attachments thereon and the handle of the uncouplinglever so that the handle may be freely grasped and operated by the trainman and without danger of his hand being squeezed between the handle and the end sill or some attachment thereon if the slack is taken out of the coupling. This is provided for in my invention by the keeper which not only guides the lever'and limits its downward movement, but also constantly spaces the lever from the end sill and the attachments thereon so that the handle may always be gripped and freely operated clear of the end sill and the attachments thereon regardless of the position or movement of the coupler head. The sliding pivot permits the coupling pin end of the lever to move laterally with the in and out moveient of the coupler head, the keeper acting as a fulcrum for the lever in its lateral movement, and since the keeper is located close to the handle end of the lever the handle will necessarily have a very slight lateral movement but the keeper will always tpreventiit from moving closer than a predetermined distance from the end of the car and the attachments thereon.

While I prefer to make the uncoupling lever of one piece ofbar iron to simplify the construction and because I believe it provides a better leverage than a sectional lever I do not restrict myself specifically to aone piece lever since it may obviously be made of sections held together in a manner familiar injthe art. I have shown the lever angularly bent in Fig. 1 between the end portions thereof, which is a convenient way of making it but I: am aware that it can be bent in a curve insteadof angularly and accomplish the same results} It is also possible to vary the form and construction of the other details of the inventionwithout departing from the spirit or sacrific ng the scope thereof and I reserve the right to l make all such changes fairly fall within the scope of the appended claims. I claim: v i

p 1. An uncoupling devicefor railway cars mounted to swing bodily and vertically in front of the end sill of, the car and in a direction substantially parallel with the face of the end sill and comprisinga one-piece, horizontal lever having a handle at one end and its other end engaged with a coupling pin, a movable pivot pin on the end sill engaging the lever between its ends, and means between said pivot pin andthe handle of the lever to restrain the handle from moving laterally nearer than a predetermined dis tance from the end of'the car while permitting the end of the lever engaged with the coupling pin to freely move laterally with the in and out movement of the couple'r head. t i

2. An uncoupling device for railway cars mounted on and operable entirely in front of and substantially parallel with the front face of the end sill of the car-and comprising a one-piece,'hor.izontal lever having a handle at one end and its other end engaged with a coupling pin, a pivot pin on the end sill engaging said lever between its ends to permit the lever to swing vertically, said pivot pin being movable through the end sill to permit the lever to swing laterally, and a fulcrum adjacent the handle of the lever for the lateral swinging movement of the lever, said fulcrum being spaced from the end of the car to restrain the handle from moving laterally nearer than a predetermined distance from the end of the car and permitting the end of the lever engaged with the coupling pin to freely move laterally with the in and out movement of the coupler head.

3. An uncoupling device for railway cars mounted to operateon the front of the end sillof the car and substantially parallel with the front face of the end sill and comprising a one-piece horizontal lever having its end portions offset with relation to each other and substantially parallel with the front face of the end sill, and'an intermediatelangularly disposed portion connecting the parallel end-portions, a single pivot pin mounted angularly on the end sill to slide freely therethrough, said lever being mounted at its angular connecting portion upon said pivot to swing vertically in front of the end sill of the car, and means engaging saidhandle portion to prevent the lever from moving nearer than a predetermined distance from the end. of the car.

, l. In an uncoupling device for-railway cars, an uncoupling lever extending from ment of said lever in a vertical plane, said' the car coupler to the side of the car, fulfulcrum pin being mounted on the end sill:

so as to move transversely thereof and thereby permit horizontal movement ofsaid lever relative to the car end sill, without horizontal movement of said lever relative to said pin.

GEORGE A. WVOODMAN.

Witnesses l 7 WM. 0. BELT, M. Kmnm. 

